Pathetic "Broadband" speed

[#1]

I`ve had a look at some of the help topics but to be honest a lot of it is over my head.
My "Broadband" speed if you can call it that is around 130kbps and has been for the last few days. It had previously been just over 700kbps which I could just about live with. 1 Meg is the maximum I could get.
At the moment it is hit and miss whether I can access the internet or not. It took me 3 attempts to get logged into Plusnet today. Some websites are ok one minute and not available the next. Other sites are really really slow. It does make me laugh when people are complaining about only geting 8MB or so!!
I`d probably be better off going back to dial up at this rate. I`m paying somewhere between £23 and £30 to Plusnet for my phone and broadband each month. If this service doesn`t improve soon I may have to shop around. Hey I could start a new Plusnet account, I`ve seen some of the deals on the website at the moment...
This is from My Broadband Speed`s website. It`s the speed tester I use quite regularly.
Date                Download Speed    Upload Speed 
Today 15:07 130 kbps (16.3kB/s) 378 kbps (47.3kB/s)
Today 12:36 130 kbps (16.3kB/s) 378 kbps (47.3kB/s)
Today 08:43 129 kbps (16.1kB/s) 377 kbps (47.1kB/s)
Today 08:37 129 kbps (16.1kB/s) 376 kbps (47kB/s) 
Yesterday 16:23 413 kbps (51.6kB/s) 378 kbps (47.3kB/s) 
Yesterday 13:49 413 kbps (51.6kB/s) 378 kbps (47.3kB/s) 
Yesterday 09:42 133 kbps (16.6kB/s) 374 kbps (46.8kB/s) 
Tuesday 18:26 138 kbps (17.3kB/s) 376 kbps (47kB/s) 
Monday 21:33 711 kbps (88.9kB/s) 160 kbps (20kB/s)
Jan 30, 18:07 707 kbps (88.4kB/s) 108 kbps (13.5kB/s)
Jan 14, 13:59 713 kbps (89.1kB/s) 379 kbps (47.4kB/s)
Dec 17, 12:28 708 kbps (88.5kB/s) 379 kbps (47.4kB/s)
Dec 14, 17:56 711 kbps (88.9kB/s) 379 kbps (47.4kB/s) 
Dec 13, 19:43 706 kbps (88.3kB/s) 378 kbps (47.3kB/s)
Dec 11, 13:24 708 kbps (88.5kB/s) 379 kbps (47.4kB/s)
Dec 1, 19:53 708 kbps (88.5kB/s) 379 kbps (47.4kB/s)
2011-11-27 18:15 709 kbps (88.6kB/s) 379 kbps (47.4kB/s)
2011-11-21 18:44 708 kbps (88.5kB/s) 378 kbps (47.3kB/s)
2011-11-20 11:52 711 kbps (88.9kB/s) 378 kbps (47.3kB/s) 
2011-11-15 18:11 710 kbps (88.8kB/s) 107 kbps (13.4kB/s) 
2011-11-13 21:33 710 kbps (88.8kB/s) 107 kbps (13.4kB/s)
2011-11-04 17:11 501 kbps (62.6kB/s) 378 kbps (47.3kB/s)
2011-11-02 18:04 533 kbps (66.6kB/s) 378 kbps (47.3kB/s)
2011-10-28 10:20 719 kbps (89.9kB/s) 378 kbps (47.3kB/s)
2011-10-28 09:54 420 kbps (52.5kB/s) 327 kbps (40.9kB/s) 
2011-10-24 16:42 484 kbps (60.5kB/s) 378 kbps (47.3kB/s) 
2011-10-19 17:48 637 kbps (79.6kB/s) 51 kbps (6.38kB/s) 
2011-10-17 19:37 632 kbps (79kB/s) 44 kbps (5.5kB/s) 
2011-10-17 17:47 648 kbps (81kB/s) 53 kbps (6.63kB/s)
2011-10-17 17:46 641 kbps (80.1kB/s) 43 kbps (5.38kB/s)
Anyone with any ideas to help me?

[#2]

Please post the information requested here http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php/topic,96155.0.html

[#3]

As requested. Haven`t watched the Youtube video as I`d have beard like yours when it had finished downloading 
Router stats - noise margin, speed and attenuation (upstream and downstream).
If you have a Plusnet supplied Thomson router this  link will give them. Alternatively put your router in here for guidance
Line Attenuation (Down):63  (Up):31
Noise Margin (Down):4  (Up):10
Total Output Power (Down):0  (Up):0
Current State DownStr: 480(K)  UpStr: 448(K)
Result of a BT speedtest http://www.speedtester.bt.com/ 0.12
Current Line Speed from here 0.75 Mb

[#4]

Basically, unless there is a major line fault (unlikely), the problem is your distance to the exchange as shown by the attenuation of at least 63dB (at least because I think that is the highest value the router will report).
Do you have a modern master socket with a removable lower plate as per this picture
If you do can you connect the router to the test socket behind the lower plate and report the stats again
As a further check can you put your post code - not phone number - in http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/adslchecker.php and advise the speed

[#5]

From Kitz.co.uk
BT Line Speed Estimation 
Fixed ADSL:  512 kbps (0.5 Mb) 
DSL Max:  1000 kbps (1 Mb) 
  21CN WBC : 1000 kbps  (1 Mb) 
And with lower plate removed.
Line Attenuation (Down):63  (Up):31
Noise Margin (Down):6  (Up):10
Total Output Power (Down):0  (Up):0
Current State DownStr: 1152(K)  UpStr: 448(K)
Bt Speedtest 0.13
Current Line speed 0.75Mb

[#6]

That tells me that your internal wiring is affecting your speed - it more than doubled in the test socket - so either you leave it there or try to sort out your internal wiring.
This is a good start for that http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/socket.htm and http://www.robertos.me.uk/html/troubleshooting.html

[#7]

Hi Scruffy,
Let me know if you need any further advice on this. I think Jim has pointed you in the right direction. If possible you might want to leave the router in the test socket for a while to see how it performs. If that shows any issues we might need to look at raising a fault with your suppliers.

[#8]

Nothing in the internal wiring has been changed recently. In fact no new electrical products have been brought in or anything not used for a while been used.

[#9]

All electrical stuff degrades over time - whether it is some form of oxidisation coating metal surfaces, or just the movement caused by expansion & contraction as temperature changes. This happens indoors as well as outdoors, although usually more slowly.
Certainly that change in sync speed by removing the lower faceplate is fairly significant - and worth hanging on to, I'm sure you'd agree. It is worth being patient, and letting Adam monitor the line left in that condition - doing that will help rule the internal wiring in/out as a cause when you try plugging it back in later.

[#10]

For more information on the ring wire or bell wire (which may be the reason your internal wiring is slowing the connection down) please see here: http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/socket.htm
Given the improvement you've seen in the test socket I'd say it's worth checking to see if that is connected as it can interfere with broadband in the way that you're seeing.

[#11]

I`ve left the lower faceplate off for a few days and am now back to "normal" broadband speeds. 700kbps which is about where it was a week or so ago.
I`ve done another test and here are the results.
Line Attenuation (Down):63  (Up):31
Noise Margin (Down):6  (Up):9
Total Output Power (Down):0  (Up):0
Current State DownStr: 1216(K)  UpStr: 448(K)
BT Speedtest  0.71

Last test done on Friday
Line Attenuation (Down):63  (Up):31
Noise Margin (Down):6  (Up):10
Total Output Power (Down):0  (Up):0
Current State DownStr: 1152(K)  UpStr: 448(K)
Bt Speedtest 0.13
Anyone have any ideas as nothing seems to have changed yet my broadband is now quite a bit quicker yet the readings seem pretty much the same to my untrained eye?

[#12]

Hello scruffy.
Well, what has changed is your downstream (DS) sync speed - Current State DownStr: 1216(K) whereas initially on the 9th (reply #2) it was Current State DownStr: 480(K).
This DS sync speed that you connect to the exchange with, determines your Profile which in turn limits the maximum speed you can download.
With a sync speed in the range 1152 to 1408kbps your profile will be 1000k giving a maximum download speed of 1M (1000k) whereas a sync speed of 480kbps gives a 350 profile, but as the speed test result came back with a result of 0.13 earlier I suspect you may have had a lower sync speed recently.
Unfortunately the profile doesn't go back up immediately when your DS speed increases, it can take several days BUT it does drop immediately when your DS speed drops.
Now, the Current Line speed at the member centre "tracks" the BT Profile which it normally does very quickly. Sometimes there are delays before it changes. When you posted it in reply #4 it was 0.75Mbs. If its still at this value, that will be what's limiting your BT Test speed to 0.71.
If you maintain the current sync speed (without interruption - leave your modem/router on - in the test socket where it is) your Profile & Current line speed should rise to 1M and then the BT speedtest result should be pretty close to that.
Bearing in mind your comment in reply #7 (and your initial comment about following the help topics) I want to make sure there hasn't been any confusion with regard your "internal wiring". Here we are talking about the Telephone extension wiring, not electrical wiring or equipment although under the wrong circumstances electrical interference can cause problems with ADSL (broadband).
Can you confirm whether you have any extension telephone sockets or wiring. The wiring if you have any, should be connected to the back of the lower front plate you have removed from the master socket. Can you also confirm that if you have any extension sockets, that they are all dead whilst the front plate is removed - check by plugging a corded phone in (via a filter) to each socket.
If you have extension wiring connected to the back of the front plate, can you confirm the colour of the individual wires and the terminal numbers that they are connected to.
If you have such wiring hopefully it will be Blue with a white trace to terminal 2 & White with a blue trace to terminal 5.
You may have an Orange with white trace connected to 3 (the bell wire), and a White with orange trace connected to 4. These two orange wires on 3 & 4 should be Disconnected from those terminals at the front plate and each extension socket. This is done by gently pulling them vertically out of the IDC terminals (they are only pressed in with an IDC tool).
Also check that any other equipment you have plugged into (extension) sockets such as all phones, fax machines, sky boxes etc, are all plugged in via quality ADSL filters (generally the type with the short lead that goes into the wall socket - nicknamed rat's tails).